If you work in Downtown El Paso, lunchtime means you either walk to one of the few restaurants open near you, drive up Mesa Street or down Paisano Drive for a fast-food meal, or just bite the bullet and bring your own food from home.

While the Downtown area is beginning to thrive, the food scene there still seems a step or two behind.

Thankfully, more and more chefs are bringing their talent to the Downtown business district and offering more dining options to people who work and play in the heart of El Paso.

One of those new places is NY Deli, a sandwich shop that opened about six months ago only to shut down to rebrand and regroup under new leadership.

Chefs Marco Olivares and Marcela Alanis — both El Pasoans who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York — operate NY Deli as a tribute to their training but add a definite taste of El Paso to the menu.

As with any good deli, the menu is short, to the point and features mostly sandwiches and wraps. Soups and salads round up the meal offerings at this surprisingly neat restaurant at 702 Myrtle Ave., across from the Albert Armendariz Sr. U.S. Federal Courthouse.

I recently visited the shop with Jayden and Dawson, two Canadians who are in El Paso for a year to play hockey with the El Paso Rhinos. Their adventure in the Sun City has included being introduced to Mexican cuisine — a difficult task at times given the lack of spicy food in Saskatchewan.

Jayden, the less adventurous of the two, picked the NY Deli club ($8.95), a hearty sandwich made with ham, smoked turkey, chicken breast, smoked cheddar, avocado, lettuce, tomato and bacon jam.

It’s that last ingredient, the bacon jam, that makes NY Deli stand out among other sandwich shops.

Jayden scarfed it down as though his life depended on it. He was impressed by its size, yes, but more so by its taste. He said it was one of the best sandwiches he’s ever had.

This sandwich was a standout. The pesto chicken was marinated right, and the fig jam brought all the flavors together nicely. It’s no wonder the chef said this was one of the best sellers on the menu.

Having tried an amazing Cobb salad ($7.95 plus $1.95 for chicken or tuna) in a previous visit, I decided to try the El Paso’s best panini ($6.95). The panini is supposed to feature the best tastes of El Paso: chipotle-marinated chicken, jalapeño bacon, roasted green chili and Muenster cheese.

The panini didn’t disappoint. I was concerned about the jalapeño bacon since I don’t do super hot foods, but the bacon had enough bite to provide flavor but not cause semipermanent damage to my taste buds.

The guys and I shared the two kinds of soups being offered that day: the always-on-the-menu tomato and smoked bacon bisque, and the soup of the day, which happened to be a broccoli and cheese. Each soup is $4.95.

The broccoli and cheese soup was good, but nothing compared with the bisque. The bisque is the type of menu item people drive from across town to try. Yes, it’s that good.

There’s a limited but affordable breakfast menu (two words: breakfast quesadilla), as well as chips and baked goods to accompany your sandwich. NY Deli delivers in the Downtown area, too.

For the time being, only breakfast and lunch are served during the workweek. Hopefully, with Downtown booming and more housing becoming available in the area, NY Deli and other restaurants will start popping up after hours and on the weekends.

Gustavo Reveles Acosta occasionally reviews restaurants for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at greveles@gmail.com.